All things important come in threes. The three apostles, the three colours of a traffic signal, the three seasons - well almost, atleast the ones that matter! And so, as it happens there are three things to remember while building a sales team that is bound for success:
Talent, Thrust and Techniques
Lets explore them in a little detail:
Bringing on the right talent is critical to the success of the team. There are some excellent references on this subject, but a concept that stands out from the crowd is the work of Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman summarised in the book First Break All the Rules, is a great showcase of how the worlds best managers drive talent maximization in their teams. They do break the commonly held notions, for example: They do not believe that, with enough training, a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They do not try to help people overcome their weaknesses. And, yes, they even play favorites! If you are involved in team building, this book is a must.
Thrust comes in the form of targets and training that need to help channel individual strengths (styles) towards developing lasting customer relationships. Setting achievable but challenging targets needs to be complemented by collaborative coaching which involves classroom training followed with on the job oversight by management. Nick Gartside, our resident Sales Training expert describes a robust three (see, again!) step Core Selling Skills Course. For Strategic Selling, we have found the Miller Heimann Approach to be the very effective, especially in a consultative Service Sales environment.
Techniques can be something as simple as presentation aides or could be sophisticated lead and opportunity management systems. Effective data mining techniques and holistic customer interaction systems can substantially improve sales productivity by qualifying and nurturing prospects, understanding customer detractors and implementing transactional promotions. To explore some of these techniques, please view our Overview Presentation.
And just like fine art, these can be mastered only with rigorous practice, continuously improving over the long term. The downturn is a perfect opportunity to start from the basics, pare down and rebuild teams and put in place new customer engagement strategies that will help maximise opportunities when the turnaround comes.
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